Persuasive Essay Topics

Persuasive Essay TopicsIf you are looking for effective English 10 persuasive essay topics to help you write a great essay, you have come to the right place. In this article, you will find helpful tips on how to use persuasive essay topics in your writing. In addition, you will also find a few tips on how to enhance your writing with these topics.Before you start writing your essay topic, you should know the purpose of your essay. This will allow you to focus on exactly what you want to say. You also need to have an idea of your persuasive style. Having the idea about your purpose and style will help you to be able to determine the best things to write on.Your next step is to decide on a topic that you feel comfortable in writing about. You can choose to discuss anything that interests you, such as a current event, current news, current events, an interesting person, etc. You do not have to write an essay on any particular subject, as long as it is something that interests you.Anothe r very important thing to remember when using good persuasive essay topics is to write from the perspective of an expert. After all, this is the point of writing an essay - to provide information to someone else. So, be sure to look at your audience through their eyes, if you want to get across something to them. Be sure to include something that they can relate to, and make sure you never let your audience down by leaving out crucial details that will help them understand your topic.Essays are a form of communication and have always had a place in human civilization. One reason why it is one of the most popular subjects that people write about is because there is so much to say and so many opinions to be taken into consideration. Most people love to argue, and so you want to be sure that the subject matter is interesting enough to both interested and entertain your audience.No matter what topic you are writing about, persuasive essay topics are extremely important to the success of your essay. In fact, many people, including professors, turn to essay topics that are based on research. Even though you may already know a lot about the topic, you may still want to look for something that is difficult to find information on. In addition, you should be sure that you are discussing a topic that your audience is interested in, whether that is political views current events, or something else entirely.It is important to write about a topic that relates to your personal experience, whether it is the life of a famous or common person, or a favorite movie or book. Many people choose to write about their childhood or something about their family history, which has a great deal of power when it comes to persuading others. By addressing a personal experience, your audience will feel more connected to you and will feel more drawn to read your essay.So, don't hesitate to use these persuasive essay topics to help you write your essay. If you learn how to use these ideas prope rly, you can accomplish just about anything you want. Remember, the main goal of a persuasive essay is to connect with your audience, and by getting them emotionally involved, you will be able to write an essay that they will remember and look back upon in years to come.

The Effects of a Business Continuity Plan on Information...

The Effects of a Business Continuity Plan on Information Systems Ronald E. Stamm Jr. ISYS 204 Professor Choi October 6th, 2011 Abstract Since the dawn of the new millennium, as more and more companies are becoming more technologically savvy, they have been coming to the realization that there is a need to protect that data somehow. These companies seek out IT professionals who help them create Business Continuity Plans. These Business Continuity Plans help companies better safeguard and effectively retain their essential data in the case of a catastrophic failure of their network infrastructure. In this essay, I will be discussing the different intricacies of a Business Continuity Plan and how to effectively build one to suit†¦show more content†¦(Karmath) A third example is one of a company that had a good Business Continuity Plan in place – Google. They attempted an update to their mail servers, which they soon found had a glitch in it causing emails to not be delivered to some users (0.02%) between 6:00 PM PST on February 27, 2011 and 2:00 PM PST on February 28, 2011. The good news was that they did onsite tape backups which, â€Å"†¦are offline, [so] they’re protected from such software bugs.† (Treynor, 2011) In this case, email was never lost and Google was able to restore service fully within a couple of days. (Treynor) Google had a sound Business Continuity Plan in place and were able to get their systems back up in operational in very short order. What is a disaster as it relates to Information Systems? G5 Networks, an Information Technology firm in Orange County, California, defines a disaster as being classified by two different categories, â€Å"Disasters can be classified in two broad categories. The first is natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes†¦. The second category is man made disasters. These include hazardous material spills, infrastructure failure, or bio-terrorism.†(â€Å"Disaster Recovery†, n.d.) These two different types of disasters require proper planning and successful implementation of tested practices to recover from aShow MoreRelatedThe Best Shot At Success During A Disaster869 Words   |  4 Pagesfailures, eliminating any surprises, and making the business continuity process predictable. This enables business continuity plans created in one area of the organization to be easily reused elsewhere which is consider to be flexible. To give your organiza tion the best shot at success during a disaster, you need to put a current, tested plan in the hands of all personnel responsible for carrying out any part of that plan. The lack of a plan doesn t just mean your organization will take longerRead MoreIncident Response Plan And A Disaster Recovery1591 Words   |  7 PagesQuestion 1: First, Incident Response (IR) plan â€Å"is a detailed set of processes and procedures that anticipate, detect, and mitigate the effects of an unexpected event that might compromise information resources and assets.† (Whitman, 2013, p. 85). Consequently, Incident response planning (IRP) is the planning for an incident, which occurs when an attack affects information systems causing disruptions. On the other hand, Disaster Recovery (DR) plan â€Å"entails the preparation for and recovery from aRead MoreThe Data Analysis For Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery Plan998 Words   |  4 PagesThe data analysis for business continuity and disaster recovery is divided into three parts. All the three parts strive to properly examine and answer the research questions in a well-structured and organized manner. The data which was analyzed from various reliable sources, such as white papers, leading companies and BCP service providers, and also survey reports on business continuity and disaster recovery will help in exploring the research questions and provide proper guidelines for employeesRead MoreBusiness Continuity Plans And The Disaster Recovery Plan1580 Words   |  7 Pages Business Continuity Plans (BCP) Paul D. Singleton Jr. March 11, 2015 ISSC481: IT Security: Planning and Policy Karen Paullet American Public University Business Continuity Plans (BCP) The Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) are twin resources derived to preserve vital organization operations when facing an unsuspecting disaster. A disaster can be either natural or man-made. Natural disasters include floods, fires, earthquakes, and lightning strikesRead MoreBusiness Continuity And Disaster Recovery Plan809 Words   |  4 Pagesimplement business continuity and disaster recovery plan. Numerous individuals think that a disaster recovery plan is the same as a business continuity plan, however a DR plan concentrates on restoring IT framework and operations after an emergency. It s just one piece of a complete business continuity plan, whereas business continuity plan looks at the continuity of the whole organization. Table 1 Differences between key terms Risk management Emergency response Business continuity What couldRead MoreInformation On Continuity Of Operations For An Organization920 Words   |  4 PagesThis document provides information on continuity of operations for an organization to asses any risks, procedures, and techniques when developing and implementing an IT contingency plan. This document discusses the planning steps in developing an IT contingency plan, possible recovery options for restoring operations, recommended testing requirements for developing an effective test plan, and a proposed 24 month test cycle. â€Æ' IT Resource Contingency Planning In today’s net-centric world, even a dayRead MoreWhat Does The Controls Interact And How They Are Performing1048 Words   |  5 Pagesmid-Atlantic area. The company relies on a wide variety of application programs and computer systems to run their business. The complexity and sophistication of FFC’s IT processing requires an ITGC review to meet SAS 109 and SOX 404. Purpose The purpose of an ITGC review is to understand how the controls interact and how they are performing. ITGCs provide the foundation for reliance on any financial information FFC’s systems produce. Deficiencies in ITGCs can indirectly cause application control deficienciesRead MoreBusiness Continuity And Disaster Recovery838 Words   |  4 Pagesdepend on people, systems and many other resources for its daily activities and functionality, any disruption of services will definitely affect the health of such business. If a business went down more than expected time as a result of any of the above mentioned disaster, this chapter indicated that it could result to the death of such business forever. Invariably, this chapter advised that companies should plan for disaster in order to heighten their chances of getting back to business as soon as possibleRead MoreBusiness Continuity Plan Essay650 Words   |  3 Pagesdecided to develop a business continuity plan (BCP) with the full s upport of management. Instructions: DLIS business continuity plan will come into effect as soon as all elements meet specific guide lines and have been tested. Scope: DLIS will build and maintain a business continuity plan to insure operations will continue in the event of a single point of failure. Objective: DLIS has a warm site located 50 miles from the head quarter office ready to conduct business with a fully mirroredRead MoreEmergency Response And Disaster Recovery Plan Essay1737 Words   |  7 PagesEmergency response procedures are a very important role in the business continuity and disaster recovery plans. It is important when creating an emergency response and disaster recovery activity is simple because when an emergency strikes people are less likely to remember a lot of rules, details, and procedures. The more complicated the emergency response plans for your business the less likely the plans will be effective in a real emergency. It is very important that a company has roles established

Isolation and Feelings in Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Essay

It appears that the people who care the most end up getting hurt by the ones they love. The more time, energy, love, and money that a person sometimes invests get thrown back in their face once something drastic happens. In turn, this causes feelings of worthlessness and isolation and can eventually lead to death. Franz Kafka understands this better than anyone else and can portray this in his novella, the Metamorphosis. In his novella, The Metamorphosis, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa is one who undergoes a physical and mental transformation due to the unrelenting pressures that his father placed upon him which eventually cause him to die. At the heart of the father-son relationship lies Gregor and his father whose relationship is explored†¦show more content†¦Both of their fathers are controlling, physically abusive, and overbearing. Kafka’s father was able to rise out of his low place in order to start his own business while Samsa’s father sits around doing n othing and forcing Gregor to work in order to provide for the family (Introduction to Franz Kafka). From the start of The Metamorphosis until the end, Gregor’s father, Mr. Samsa treats Gregor with extreme harshness in the way he speaks to Gregor and the physical pain that he inflicts upon him. Even in the very first encounter with the newly transformed Gregor the father’s first reaction is unexpected. When he sees that Gregor is a bug, his reaction is one of disgust. This ‘monstrous’ creature that Gregor had become was a horrid sight for Mr. Samsa to see. â€Å"The father was already knocking, gently, but with his fist† exerts the fact that Mr. Samsa was a bit manipulative (Kafka 9). The irony in this sentence is that he knocked gentle as to seem that he did not want to disturb Gregor. He then also made sure to use his fist as to show a sign of power and that he did not care if Gregor was ok but rather to make sure that he would get to work on time. At one moment in the story the father seems a bit worrisome but in the next instant the â€Å"fathe r gave him a strong push which was literal deliverance and he flew far into the room... The door was slammed behind him with a stick... (Kafka 20). This statement is also oneShow MoreRelatedThe Relationship Between Gregor and Samsa Essay1670 Words   |  7 Pagesexistence have evolved along with them. Among the literary pioneers who have explored the meaning and purpose of existence, Franz Kafka is one to be noted and studied. A follower of the existentialism movement, he made it a point explore existential philosophy in his literary works. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the main character Gregor Samsa is the parallel to Franz Kafka which is evident through the portrayal of their similar paternal relationships, ties to existentialism, and their inabilityRead MoreThe Metamorphosis Isolation Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesFranz Kafka’s feelings of isolation throughout his life caused him to portray characters in his writing as outcasts as a result. The basis of Ka fka’s novel The Metamorphosis is the effects of isolation on man and it’s impact on life. The use of modernism in Kafka’s writing was a reflection of the characteristic shift from the beauty and innocence of romanticism to the cold harsh reality of life after World War I. Kafka’s lifelong alienation intersects with his work where he draws on his personalRead MoreThe Existential Isolation And Biopsychological Change1519 Words   |  7 PagesExistential Isolation and Biopsychological Change in The Metamorphosis and â€Å"Letter to my Father† by Franz Kafka and Unwelcome Visitors† by Tessa Farmer This literary and art analysis will define the correlation between the writings of Kafka and the installation art of Tessa Farmer’s in relation to the themes of existential isolation and biopsychological change. Gregor’s anxiety in The Metamorphosis is partially due to the alienation of society, which cases an existential period of isolation in whichRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1147 Words   |  5 PagesPaul Kim Professor Teresa McCarty AP Language 27 October 2015 The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka led a life filled with struggles, particularly evident in his relationship with his father. His experiences and feelings in life are manifested throughout his writings, as the themes in his life dominate the themes of his works, especially so in his novella, The Metamorphosis. Through his extended metaphor of Samsa as a vermin, Kafka illustrates the family dynamic present throughout his life, that of his familyRead MoreFranz Kafka and Ismail Kadare861 Words   |  4 PagesFranz Kafka and Ismail Kadare were two of the most extravagant storytellers of modern times. Franz Kafka wrote the short story, The Metamorphosis and Ismail Kadare wrote the novel, Broken April. In these two stories, there is a sense of sadness and darkness that both author’s portrayed in them. The characterization between Gregor (from The Metamorphosis) and Gjorg (from Broken April) were actually similar in comparison. The similarities are isolation, loneliness, and their father figures. Neverth elessRead MoreSubconscious Rebellion in the Novel The Metamorphosis Essay940 Words   |  4 PagesThe Metamorphosis, a novella by Franz Kafka, is about a man who has been transformed into a giant beetle overnight. This transformation is a form of rebellion that turns out to be a punishment for that rebellion. The Metamorphosis is a story of subconscious rebellion and isolation to avoid ones responsibilities. The story begins, When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. (Kafka, 3) This is quite surprisingRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka Essay1496 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The metamorphosis,† is a story by Franz Kafka, published in 1915 is a story divided in three chapters: transformation, acceptance, and the death of the protagonist. There are many interpretations that can form this tale as the indifference by the society that is concerned with different individuals, and isolation pushing some cases to the solitude. Some consider The Metamorphosis as an autobiography of the author, which tries to capture the loneliness and isolation that he felt at some pointRead More Mental Isolation in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis Essay1428 Words   |  6 PagesMental Isolation in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis The metamorphosis very possibly was written by Kafka as an outlet for his feelings of isolation and helplessness. In it, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find himself spontaneously transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. The story continues from there in a most realistic fashion: his family rejects him, and he stays cooped up in his room until he dies. Although interpretations of the story differ, my opinion isRead MoreFranz Kafka s The Metamorphosis1544 Words   |  7 PagesFranz Kafka, struggled throughout his life with isolation, which is clearly a great influence and inspiration in his work, The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka was born in 1883 to an upper middle class Jewish family in Prague. Kafka struggled with many problems in all facets of his life, most significantly in his his health, his relationships with the people in his life, and his relationship with work. Each of these problems contributed to his isolation, which is reflected in his character Gregor Samsa’sRead MoreIsolation In Franz Kafkas Metamorphosis1145 Words   |  5 PagesSecluded From It All! Have you ever had that feeling that you were all alone or isolated from society? Many people deal with this unconscious feeling everyday. Having to go about your life everyday with this thought can be very depressing and can often lead to death. Just like the many people in the world, the main character, Gregor Samsa, also felt this way. Isolation refers to the situation of being alone and/or without others around. Due to his transformation, Gregor was immediately isolated unlike

Latin American Wars Free Essays

Like in most other histories of wars, colonialism and control of the natural resources are the main reasons why Latin- American wars happened. Aside from colonialism, the struggle for physical power over the strategic River Plate (a large utuary between Argentina and Uruguay, Rio de Plata in Spanish) regions is also one of the main reasons. The ambitious leadership of Franciso Solano of Paraguay also lead to the Latin American wars. We will write a custom essay sample on Latin American Wars or any similar topic only for you Order Now For this, Paraguay is always part of the history when we are talking about Latin American wars. Two historical events are best quoted when we are talking about Latin American War. These are the events that lead to the conflict in Latin American countries in mis- late 1800’s. War of the Triple Alliance or Paraguayan Wars ( 1864- 1870) According to most history books and to Wikipedia, this started when Argentina proclaimed its independence of Spain in 1810. Paraguay refused to be under Spain and declared its own independence. El Supremo, Gaspar Rodriguez Francia started a political dynasty in the country of Paraguay. After his death, his kins (nephew and son to be specific)Carlos Antonio Lopez and Francisco Solano Lopez succeeded his regime, and followed his implementation of dictatorship over Paraguay. Carlos Antonio’s son, Francisco Solano, built an empire and the led the country into a war against an alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. This war ended with the devastation of Paraguay. Diseases and deaths occurred and manipulated almost the entire population of the said country. The following statistics presents the number of casualty in these Latin American countries: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Triple_Alliance ). Brazil had 28, 000-30,000 people killed in action, 30, 000 died due to other causes, others are even missing. In Argentina, 18, 000 killed in action and 12, 000 died of other causes, mainly of diseases and others are missing. In Paraguay, 120,000-160,000 got killed and died. But the conflict is stopped through his death. The revival was started through the initiative of some Brazilian armies who stayed in the country after the war. It took Paraguay long years to recover from chaos and demographic imbalance War of the Pacific The Salpeter war, which is another term for War of the Pacific, as referred to its original cause started when Chile had a fight against the joint force of Bolivia and Peru. Accroding to the Wikipedia, the war between and among these countries arose when they had an argument over the control of the part of Atacama Desert that lies between the 23rd and 26th parallels on the Pacific coast. The territory has valuable mineral resources which were exploited by some companies in Chile and British interests. The Bolivian government took advantage of this situation and decided to add and increase taxes to these companies and interests and this led to misunderstanding and commercial dispute. This is the reason why is it called Salpeter War. Salpeter is potassium nitrate, a chemical compound, a naturally occurring mineral source of nitrogen and a good source of black gun powder. It may sound funny but we always perceive that in a war, winners are determined by who are right, but who are left. However, as we analyze it as a whole, in any war histories, both parties always seem defeated with the lost they had after the war. How to cite Latin American Wars, Essay examples

King Arthur Essays (372 words) - Knights Of The Round Table

King Arthur Sir Launcelot and Sir Mordred have many similarities with each other but I will focus on the main relation between them, their betrayal of King Arthur. Betrayal is to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling a task. Sir Launcelot was unfaithful to maintaining his knighthood because he had an affair with Guinevere. my lord, said Sir Bors, do you not fear Sir Aggravayne/ and Sir Mordred, who never cease to spy on you, and who I/ am sure must sooner or later contrive to betray you? Sir Launcelot, I fear that disaster must befall you and/ the queen and all at this court! (495). This quote is a turning point in the book because this is when King Arthur discovers that one of his most trusted and loyal knights has betrayed him and has made him look like a fool in front of his court. King Arthur is also forced to show a side that he does not want to, he must follow through with his laws and burn his wife on the stake although he despises the thought of doing so. Sir Launcelot la ter stole Guinevere from the stake when Arthur was going to burn her, this was another act by Sir Launcelot in which he betrayed his king this later leads to a war. During the absence of King Arthur from Britain, Sir/ Mordred, already vested with sovereign powers, had/ decided to upsurp the throne. Accordingly, he had false letters/ written-announcing the death of King Arthur in battle and (Mordred) persuaded the nobility to/ elect him king.(518). This quote shows that Sir Mordred was unfaithful to King Arthur by telling the Kingdom of Camelot that Arthur had died in battle thus crowning himself king. This act by Sir Mordred caused Arthurss Kingdom to become divided and this later leads to the Arthurs last battle. Sir Mordred is later fighting King Arthur and he is stabbed by Arthur but then he delivers a fatal blow to King Arthur on his helmet, just a little while after the blow Arthur dies. Sir Launcelot and Sir Mordred both betrayed Arthur and his court but only Mordred planned t o overthrow the king from his first breath.

Free Essays on Paul Sperry

For my first concert report, I opted to attend Paul Sperry’s guest appearance at the Staples Family Concert Hall on February 15th. I chose this date mainly because I had never heard of him and I’m always open to exposing myself to new artists. Also, he’s a tenor and so am I. My expectations were few seeing as how I had never heard of Paul Sperry prior to this concert. I suppose I would say that I expected a quaint evening of serenades; perhaps some Beethoven or even a piece by Stroope. What I experienced instead, was an unentertaining evening of very strange and whimsical selections that I later learned are referred to as â€Å"American Folksongs†. He performed Robert Beaser’s, â€Å"The Seven Deadly Sins†-a suite with one movement for every deadly sin. To me, this piece was fairly redundant and uninteresting. There was very little melodic variation and (to borrow a word from the mainstream music arena) it wasn’t â€Å"catchy†. I don’t know if I’m just shallow or unintelligent, but the lyrical content made little to no sense to me. It vaguely described consequences and actions concerning the particular â€Å"sin†. But they really didn’t follow much of a pattern. Mr. Sperry, however, performed the pieces well. His voice is well-trained and very powerful. I have no criticism for his execution of this piece. The next piece I’ll discuss is Tom Cipullo’s â€Å"Another Reason I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House†. This is suite written from the perspective of a middle-class neighborhood resident lamenting about household quirks and neighboring dogs that remind them of why they don’t own firearms. This piece was amusing at times; particularly the final movement that whines about the common neighborhood complaint of a barking dog. While I was able to relate to many of the quirks that Cipullo pointed out in this piece, I was less than entertained by it. It struck me as fairly shallow and poorly written. The music was plain and... Free Essays on Paul Sperry Free Essays on Paul Sperry For my first concert report, I opted to attend Paul Sperry’s guest appearance at the Staples Family Concert Hall on February 15th. I chose this date mainly because I had never heard of him and I’m always open to exposing myself to new artists. Also, he’s a tenor and so am I. My expectations were few seeing as how I had never heard of Paul Sperry prior to this concert. I suppose I would say that I expected a quaint evening of serenades; perhaps some Beethoven or even a piece by Stroope. What I experienced instead, was an unentertaining evening of very strange and whimsical selections that I later learned are referred to as â€Å"American Folksongs†. He performed Robert Beaser’s, â€Å"The Seven Deadly Sins†-a suite with one movement for every deadly sin. To me, this piece was fairly redundant and uninteresting. There was very little melodic variation and (to borrow a word from the mainstream music arena) it wasn’t â€Å"catchy†. I don’t know if I’m just shallow or unintelligent, but the lyrical content made little to no sense to me. It vaguely described consequences and actions concerning the particular â€Å"sin†. But they really didn’t follow much of a pattern. Mr. Sperry, however, performed the pieces well. His voice is well-trained and very powerful. I have no criticism for his execution of this piece. The next piece I’ll discuss is Tom Cipullo’s â€Å"Another Reason I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House†. This is suite written from the perspective of a middle-class neighborhood resident lamenting about household quirks and neighboring dogs that remind them of why they don’t own firearms. This piece was amusing at times; particularly the final movement that whines about the common neighborhood complaint of a barking dog. While I was able to relate to many of the quirks that Cipullo pointed out in this piece, I was less than entertained by it. It struck me as fairly shallow and poorly written. The music was plain and...

#FreelancerFriday #3 - Maggie Lyons, Editor

#FreelancerFriday #3 - Maggie Lyons, Editor #FreelancerFriday #3 - Maggie Lyons, Editor â€Å"You want to make a piece of writing absolutely shine, but you have to be very careful not to squash the writers’ voice. If you destroy the writer’s voice you shouldn’t be editing.†Maggie Lyons is an editor and author of children’s fiction of Welsh extraction based in Virginia. With a background editing for Harvard University Press and Palgrave Macmillan, she spoke to us about her diplomatic approach to editing, and her experience being on the other side of the editor’s pen.–REEDSY What was it like starting as an editor in academic publishing?MAGGIE LYONS I got to edit an enormous variety of disciplines: everything from medieval history to an astronomy course. In the academic world a lot of disciplines can be edited by people who don’t have a degree in that subject. There are a few that can’t be - I’d have never agree to edit a course on relativity - but a lot can. Publishers trust that the academic writing the book is the ultimate expert, and that the editor’s job is not to check every fact in the book. I could do developmental editing for British History, Medieval History, there was a course on Churchill where I made some suggestions as well.When you’re talking about an academic volume that has multiple authors all contributing a chapter, I would not do developmental editing. For example, I’ve worked on books for Harvard University Press. By the time the manuscript gets to me the developmental editing has been done, and it’s been done by an academic in that subject, often someone cont ributing a chapter to that book. But the copy editor or line editor for an academic publisher like HUP wouldn’t do the developmental or content editing.REEDSY Do you have a process for working through a new project?MAGGIE LYONS Absolutely. The process is different depending on if I’m editing for an individual private client or a publisher. If I’m editing something for a private client, we start off with a brief discussion of the document to be edited, a contract goes back and forth, administrative things are involved, etc. Before I even accept the manuscript I’ll want to see a couple of sample pages so that I can see the amount of work involved, and obviously my fee is then based on the level or work involved. All that administrative and judgemental stuff comes first.I rarely ever edit hard-copy, I rarely mark-up paper. I much prefer to work online. I find it leads to better work - I pick up on things much more accurately when I work online. I have done work on paper, but that’s becoming very much a thing of the past. Some companies still do it, marking up everything in red ink, but that’s very unusual these days.I’ll look over the manuscript and let the writer or p ublishing house know how long it’ll take me to do. If I spot things that may be problematic, I need an answer from the writer before I even start editing. I go through the manuscript twice - I do a first and second pass, which could mean 80,000 words twice over, but I find it necessary. I’ll then put it through a spell check, and it goes back to the client. Almost always when I’m editing I put in a lot of comments and queries for the writer that need to be addressed. We get all the loose ends tied up and problems solved, and then we’ll finalise the manuscript. There’s a fourth pass through before it goes back to the client for submission.In terms of writing for a publishing house it’s slightly different - I’ll do the two passes and the spell-check, but someone else presents the author with my queries. When I work with a publisher I don’t have direct contact with the author. It’s unfortunate because that direct content te nds to give much better results.REEDSY What are some of things that need to be queried? That you can’t fix by yourself.MAGGIE LYONS For example, I was editing a manuscript by an author with HUP who was talking about places in central Asia. They had used different spellings for the same location throughout the text. So I had to check which one was correct, which do you prefer to use - he knows which one will be best, whether it’s less accents or more accepts, and so on. They have to be the one to decide that.REEDSY What are some common mistakes people make with respect to structure?MAGGIE LYONS The first thing that comes to mind is logic - sometimes sentences don’t flow logically, you need to move a sentence to the beginning rather than the end. You’re looking for things that might give the wrong meaning because of the way that they’re structured.REEDSY Is that the same for fiction? More difficult?MAGGIE LYONS I wouldn’t say more difficult, I would say you’re taking a different approach. By nature, fiction is going to involve things like plot and characterisation and points of view; you have to know how to address those differently to the issues you might have in non-fiction. It’s a different set of rules.REEDSY Is it difficult editing fiction while preserving the voice of a writer? Like, correcting problems while retaining stylistic inconsistencies.MAGGIE LYONS Dialogue will not be grammatically correct because people do not speak grammatically correctly! You want to make dialogue in fiction as natural as possible, so if there are grammatical mistakes you leave them in - it’s like hallowed ground. If everyone spoke grammatically perfect English you’d have rather boring dialogue; everyone would be the same person. That’s just one of the areas where fiction is very different from non-fiction - you’re going to have that off-the-chart stuff, while in non-fiction you can make everyone sound absolutely perfect. This is the difference between editors who specialise in either fiction or non-fiction.I’ve published children’s books myself, so I’ve seen that side as a fiction writer. When I published them I had an editor of my own, because no writer can edit themselves well - it’s psychological, you don’t want to see the mistakes you’ve made. You can’t deal with it. Itâ€℠¢s always best to have an outsider look at these things for you.REEDSY Can you talk more about being an editor undergoing editing yourself?MAGGIE LYONS I found the experience difficult for myself. I am a professional editor, I had a few ideas of my own with which my publisher’s editor did not agree - I went through a hard time with all of that. For one thing the process when you’re writing fiction is very exhausting; you seem multiple revisions, coming back to you and back again, which gets to be very tiring. Especially when you’ve already spent a lot of time writing the darn thing, and now you’re going over and over it again. It got to the point where I didn’t want to see this wretched story anymore.One of the problems is when you’re working closely with a writer you have to remember that this piece of work is their baby. If baby has an orange nose, how is the editor going to deal with that? You can’t just say â€Å"Your baby is an abomination† - you have to get the parent to realise they should be feeding the baby a few less carrots. Editors have to be diplomats. 99% of the t ime they’re right. The trick isn’t what they’re saying, but the way they’re saying it. The author is going to accept your advice much more easily if your communication and diplomacy skills are top-notch. But if you come in with a heavy hand you’re going to develop an adversarial relationship which is really death to working well.It’s much more of a partnership in the developmental or content edit stage, where the editor wants to help the writer be the best writer they can be. There’s less of that in the line-editing stage - when it comes to grammar, it’s either wrong. It’s less a suggestion, it’s more whether you want to put out a grammatically correct book, or an incorrect book.REEDSY And where do copyeditors sit on that spectrum?MAGGIE LYONS In a way, the writer is not the copyeditors client; the reader is the copyeditors client. What the editor and writer ares trying to do together is make everything as flowy and comprehensible for the reader’s sake. The goal is to create the best product for the reader.REEDSY So when preparing to work with you, what can an author do for you, as an editor?MAGGIE LYONS Before going to an editor, the writer of a work of fiction needs to go over a manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, and also to have submitted it to a critique group so that you’ve had the benefit of other people’s opinions on the whole thing. There can be years of work put into manuscripts before they reach an editor.There are many people who write, and they have wonderful ideas that should be in print - but they don’t have a good grasp of grammar. We expect to edit that - we call that mechanical editing. But their ideas and their style is something that will come from the writer, although a good editor can help with that. The copyeditor is the one that will smooth out those ruffles. There’s a mantra for copy editors: Comprehensibility, clarity, correctness, consistency, and concision.You want to make a piece of writing absolutely shine, but you have to be very careful not to squash the writers’ voice. If you destroy the writer’s voice you shou ldn’t be editing - that’s when you don’t want to obey all the rules in the book. You have to treasure a writer’s voice, especially a strong voice.–After our conversation, Maggie very kindly followed up with some comments on the degree to which exercising judgement makes all the difference in editing stylistic writing, especially fiction.–â€Å"In terms of what being a good or bad editor means, I’d like to add that being overzealous with the rule book can make pablum of a text or destroy the author’s intentions. For example, in a work of fiction, when writers want to intensify the dramatic action, they may wish to use use less commas and/or periods (full stops) and write more fragmented content. An editor who is determined to correct what seems to be sloppy style and grammar could slow down the momentum the writer has carefully built, or destroy it all together. In an academic or business context, an overzealous editor could re place all the technical jargon with standardized terminology (and at the risk of imposing the wrong meaning). When a book or a document is intended to be read by professionals serving a particular industry, the copy editor would be wise to retain the terminology the readers know and understand, regardless of whether its jargon.Good editors will respect a writer’s voice and not try to write the content in their own style. They’ll also be flexible with rules and willing to negotiate with the writer on arguable points. Points of editorial style are frequently negotiable. Points of grammar, however, much less so.I also do ESL editing (English as a second language) for clients whose mother tongue is not English. That may require some creative thinking! But I am in close touch with those clients and have plenty of opportunity to make sure I have interpreted their meaning correctly. Sometimes it can be quite a challenge because the clients have difficulty in explaining exactl y what they mean! But I love that kind of challenge.†